As is known, in compounds for tyres the interaction between the reinforcing filler and the polymer base has a direct effect on the physical properties of the vulcanized compounds. In particular, a greater interaction between the reinforcing filler and the polymer base results in greater dispersion of the reinforcing filler in the compound, with consequent improvement in terms of abrasion resistance, resistance to the propagation of cracks and improvement of tension properties. These improvements necessarily result in longer life of the tyre.
To improve the interaction between the polymer base and the reinforcing filler, the use of appropriately functionalized polymer bases is known.
Although said solution improves the interaction between the polymer base and the reinforcing filler, it nevertheless suffers from drawbacks in terms of costs and selectivity. In fact, these functionalized polymer bases are both particularly costly and selective to the type of reinforcing filler used. As is known, the reinforcing fillers generally used in tyre compounds are carbon black and silicon dioxide. According to the type of compound, or its function in the tyre, either carbon black or silicon dioxide or a mixture thereof are used.
A solution which is effective either with carbon black only or with silicon dioxide only is therefore a limiting factor.
The need is therefore felt for a solution that is able to improve the interaction between polymer base and reinforcing filler without the drawbacks of the functionalized polymer bases.